This invention relates to a gas regulator apparatus adapted to be mounted inside of a vessel containing gas under high pressure for the purpose of maintaining a substantially constant flow of gas as the gas pressure either fluctuates within the vessel or decreases within the vessel due to the exhaustion of the gas. More specifically, the gas regulator apparatus comprises a regulator body having at least one flat surface and having a conduit therethrough with one end thereof terminating in the flat surface, and an elongated, radiused, resilient spring reed of appropriate dimensions mounted in spaced relation to the opening in the flat surface, whereby the gas pressure within the vessel maintains the reed and opening in the flat surface in spaced relationship as the gas pressure fluctuates or decreases so as to provide a substantially constant gas flow rate from the regulator. The described regulator apparatus is suitable for achieving a substantially constant flow rate within a high pressure gas vessel where the pressure fluctuates and is particularly suitable for use on portable oxygen containers where a specific rate of oxygen is prescribed by a physician for therapeutic purposes.
At the present time, small portable oxygen containers are used for therapeutic purposes by people who suffer from asthma, hay fever, respiratory ailments, various types of heart ailments, etc. These portable oxygen units come in varying sizes, with the weight ranging from about four pounds to a maximum weight of about thirty pounds so that the unit will be readily portable. The pressure in a full container generally ranges from about 1,000 pounds per square inch gauge (p.s.i.g.) to 2,000 p.s.i.g. The rate at which the oxygen is exhausted from the container usually is variable and uncontrolled because, unlike the large stationary units used in hospitals, such portable units usually do not include an external gas regulator valve. Such external regulator valves are heavy in weight, somewhat cumbersome and expensive and, thus, are not very compatible with portable oxygen units. Therefore, the present portable oxygen units lack a cheap, unsophisticated means of delivering the specific controlled volumes of gas prescribed by doctors for their numerous patients.